I too am hoping Natureman will reply to these posts. I am 38 yr female and my branchial cyst showed up in October this year, it's now larger than a baseball and is showing signs of infection. Doctor put me on Clindamycin and hopefully it will take most of the pain away with the infection. It's growing over my jaw as well as crowding my ear, is there anything you guys know that can reduce this at all FAST? Pressure in my head is bad and doctor can't get fluid out of it for some reason...

I'm fascinated some of you were able to shrink it with herbs/diet. Had I read this first, I would have tried I think. Here is my experience, I hope it helps folks. I know I would have liked to have read this:

8 Years ago I discovered a lump on left side of my neck shaving - it grew to be the size of half an egg ( the oblong way) on my neck (rather quickly, 3-4 weeks). I was completely healthy in every other respect - just ran a marathon, never smoked/used drugs, rarely drank wine, not overweight (suggests it is indeed birth defect). The doctors did surgery and the biopsy revealed it was a branchial cyst. It never returned, and the scar is barely noticeable as they made the incision in cease of neck.

About two months ago, I got another lump! On the right side of my neck. Same story. This time I went to mayo clinic. They were very thorough and did a few things differently than the first hospital.

1. They biopsied the fluid and wall of cyst twice, two different methods, the more successful method was using ultrasound to see where their needle was going to grab cells. No pain, super simple, to confirm what it was before they treated.

2. They drained it (about 1/4 cup of fluid) during the ultrasound biopsy- the first time this happened they wouldn't drain it. I was glad they did, and if you are on this path ask them too.. it's comforting to have a few weeks without pressure on your neck while you wait for surgeon.

It was step 2 that was interesting. They removed fluid, it came right back again over 2 weeks although not as strong.. and seemed to sort of "stabilize" at a smaller egg. I was not interested in having a lump, and given previous surgery was success, I decided to undergo it a second time for other side. It's outpatient - you get it it in morning, go home evening. I had it done on a friday, I'll be returning to work on monday. It all went well.

I have noticed that my branchial flares up the most right before my monthly cycle. All this time I thought it was due to water retention. However, After reading up on hormone imbalances I saw I have several signs of an imbalance. I started taking Chickweed, Black Cohosh, Progesterone Creme, along my Marshmallow, and Cats Claw for this. I also changed my diet to eating foods that balance the hormones. I notice it had it shrunk alot in only 2 DAYS!! ( mine has been the size of a large duck egg off and on) MEN also can have hormone imbalances as we both have the same hormones just in different amounts. I will post again tomorrow with a list of foods that can help restore the hormones to the right level. I chose not to do the surgery because it does not get to the root of the problem. Surgery can remove it, but the main problem that causes it still remains and cysts can develop elsewhere. I guess were all special people to have branchials to tell us that we need to fix something in our body!

..just a side note, that if you're reading this tonight and need something right away to help with any discomfort, what I do is take 4 Ibuprophin tablets (Motrin) until I can get what I need. And for tomorrow, have eggs and glass of milk for breakfast, (boosts hormomes) Post food list tomorrow.

Ok, here is a link of symptoms indicating hormone imbalance @ http://hormoneimbalancesymptoms.net/ Black Cohosh for women is known to balance hormones. Feverfew for discomfort along with MArshmallow and Cats Claw,and Chickweed (which purifies the blood) Foods that I have been eating this week which are helping it to bring it down.
Foods to balance Hormones and help to raise Estrogen levels are:
Protein
Milk
Eggs
Egg Salad
Zinc
Beans
Chick peas
Oats
Wheat
Brown Rice
Alfalfa
Brocolli
Tomatoes and Sauce
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Beets
Celery
Carrots
Omega 3 fats
Olive Oil
Yams
Fruits:
Apples and juice
Cherries and juice
Papaya
Plums
Dates
Red Grapes
Pop cicles to help cool the throat down
These foods have been helping me a lot. I have read that too much raw fiber will delete the body of estrogen too, so I guess just keep even how much fiber you eat in balance too. Best wishes and Blessings!

I am a 25 years old, and the beginning of this year I noticed a lump on the left side of my neck. I went to the Dr. to find out what it was, and found out that it was a BCC. It was growing rather quickly, and the surrounding area was extremely painful. The cyst itself did not hurt at all. It was decided that the best thing to do would be to drain it, and then when the inflammation was completely gone, to remove it. Once it was drained, it reduced to about the size of a marble, (it was about the size of a chicken egg)
. I have not tried to schedule surgery yet, but it has started to grow again. I would really like to avoid the surgery if at all possible. I have started putting a salve on it topically, and I was wondering if anyone has had success with that. The stuff that I am using is called "Nature's Sunshine Black Ointment". I am going to try some of the supplements that were mentioned and see how they work for me. Also, has anyone heard of using Activated Charcoal? Either topically or orally? Thanks for all the info that is already out there.

I've had a large egg-sized BCC on the left side of my neck for nearly a year, and finally figured out what it is, after three doctors, and a few tests. None were willing to treat it any way, but maybe that's OK. I'm glad I found this thread, and I'm going to try some of the things people have recommended. Hopefully I can avoid doctors. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm looking for some helpful ideas. About a year ago my wife developed a branchial cleft cyst. This is a birth defect that sometimes shows up later in life. When she first had it diagnosed we were told that it would be fine as long as it didn't become infected and then surgery would be the answer.
About three months ago it began to swell and became about the size of a baseball so we went to the surgeon and made arrangements to have it removed. In the meantime, I began administering a mixture of herbs and it reduced in size to about where it was when we first went to the dr a little over a year ago. Our family doctor told her that so long as we are able to control it she would be better off not having the surgery. I, of course, agree.
I would like to see it reduced even further so she is continuing with the decoction but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this kind of thing and if you might suggest what I can do to shrink it even further.
I'm using dandelion root, yarrow, marshmallow root, white willow bark, ginger root in the mixture and she is also taking plantain and yellow dock in capsule form.
Any ideas?

Hi, I know that this post is from 6 years ago. But if you are still active I would truly appreciate your advice. My daughter just turned two years old and unfortunately she was diagnosed with a branchial cyst. The doctor said that the surgery is a must. But before the surgery the cyst infection needs to be taken care of. I'm afraid that traditional antibiotics won't help get all of the infection out so she may then need something much stronger. That is why I would love to know how you prepared the herbal mixtures for your wife. It would be of great help if you could give me a step by step recipie. Did you boil all these herbs? Did she eat them, drink them or applied it to the cyst? Thank you in advance.

I am going through something similar with my partner but am new to herbal remedies.
please let me know how you made this remedy, dosages etc. that be so helpful. one thing we are about to try is raw honey 1 tbl spoon a day and apple cider vinegar 1 tbl spoon in a glass of water 3 times daily.

Dental assistant noticed a lump on my neck, and it was diagnosed 3 weeks later as branchial cleft cyst. It started out soft, and is now larger and rock hard and extending past my jaw bone versus just being a smallish lump below the jaw (has been 6 weeks since I noticed it). CT to diagnose and biopsy to check for cancer (which was neg). Was not painful until a flight caused ear and head pain on the cyst side for several days, and then the change from being an obvious lump, to more of an inflamed area after the biopsy a week and a half ago. Get headaches, ear aches often, if not constantly. The ENT wants to schedule a surgery, and this is the first time I've read it can be made smaller with natural remedies. Want to try this route to at least make it smaller by the time the surgery happens, and also really want to make sure I get a good surgeon, but don't know how to find one experienced in BCC.

I've never taken vitamins or herbal remedies, and have no idea how to begin taking or applying anything listed in this forum. How would I go about starting on this route. We do have some nearby herbal remedy shops.

I am going to start steeping tea from some of the herbs/plants listed in this forum. Maybe go for 2-3 tbsp of steeped tea of each kind into a separate cup and top it off with hot water (3x a day).. not sure if its possible to overdose on these?

Also just because I have it around:
Dandelion (tea packet)
willowherb (picked/dried)

I also slather a propolis/alcohol mix (tincture?) once a day, and then make a crisscross pattern over the cyst area with iodine (which gets a little itchy/burn not sure if thats how it is supposed to be used, but definitely wouldn't slather it on)

It's amazing to get to know various remedies for BCC. I'm 30 and few months back I got with it in my right neck. It's almost painless (almost as if I sleep on that side it negligibly pinches to pain) and by now I have consulted around 8 doctors and all have concluded to surgery. I dont have faithin any. Also Have got couple of USGs and CT Scan. It mentions 2nd Branchial Cleft Cyst. However, while making efforts to lose weight I coincidently started with Apple Cidar Vinegar (5 ml in a glass of water) and surprisingly my swelling started subsiding in just two doses. It's almost 5 days now and it has reduced to almost a size of a big marble from that of an egg. I don't know if its really too fast or its just that my swelling is getting off. But yes it seems to be working.

Couple of in here, I read, have already tried ACV. Can anyone update on their improvements please? Like many in here even I'm in no acceptance of surgery.

Indeed I'll post here to update on my improvements and any other remedy if I may come across.